It’s almost two months since I arrived in Tartu and each of these days were full of fun and adventure. There are several things I’ve learned during this period of stay and I would like to share with you.
Knowing Georgian is very useful in Tartu
Before arriving here, I was a little worried about missing my family, friends and was encouraging myself not to suffer from the so called homesickness. But after settling here, I realized that it won’t happen even if I try really hard.
It’s said that every 5th citizen of Tartu is a student. I wonder how many of them are Georgians.
This moment, my course mates already speak few Georgian words, know that the noisiest and always-loudly-laughing guys are from my country and even are thinking about taking language full of “gh”-s, “tch”-s and “kh”-s as an elective course.
Emajogi is quite cold in October
I bet you’ve seen some Estonians enjoying swimming in Emajogi river during sunny autumn days. Personally, I do no really recommend it, but if you are fond of extreme sports and everything connected to water, I have good news for you. FREE ROWING! Yes, you didn’t mishear it. Everybody can experience canoe and rowboat voyage for free. But there is a quite big chance, that during your relaxing Emajogi-journey some crazy teenagers, accidentally hit their rows on your kayak and within the seconds you’ll find yourself in freezing water.
I have several pieces of advice what to do and what to not if it happens:
1. Before the journey put on the rescue vest.
2. If you are the one who fell in the river cry, shout; curse as loud as you can. Don’t use phrases like “Quickly Please” or “Somebody, help us faster”. They won’t speed up their boats.
3. Pray.
4. If you are the one who is on land (probably best friend), take pictures, videos, etc.
Making Popcorn in dormitory is not always a good idea
I know, there are some nights you just want to spend with your friends, in a cozy atmosphere, maybe watching a movie or favorite TV show and the first thing you basically decide to do is buying popcorn because there is no real movie-watching-scene (even in the movies) without aroma-spreading and tasty corn.
Before buying and putting popcorn into the microwave think TWICE. Maybe it will burn in a whole, maybe dorm manager will call the firefighters and maybe you will receive 30-euro-fine.
Who knows? I hope my personal experiences and advice will help you a little. See you around!
Written By:
Nino Tkeshelashvili (Georgia)
MA in Innovation and Technology Management
Cover Photo By:
Giga Sesitashvili
